Cathode ray tubes (CRT's) and CRT funnels, especially in the large sizes, present shipping and storage problems which are quite unique and exceptionally burdensome. Cathode ray tubes and funnels are massive, yet extremely fragile. A finished 25 inch diagonal color tube, e.g., weighs approximately 60 pounds yet has a slender, thin-walled neck which is easily cracked or broken.
Cathode ray rubes and funnels are currently shipped and stored in corrugated cardboard containers. These have been found to be extremely costly, the costs being identifiable in four categories.
1. Materials
The dry strength of corrugated cardboard is greatly deteriorated by rough handling, humid ambient conditions, and water saturation. As a result, cardboard CRT and funnel shipping containers are capable of being reused a very limited number of times. The stacking strength of conventional cardboard containers is not sufficient to permit stacking of the containers to heights which can best utilize warehouse and transport vehicle space. Collapse of stacked containers causes damage to the containers and often to their fragile contents. Conventional cardboard CRT and funnel shipping containers comprise a large number of parts, typically 16 or more, held together by steel bands. These bands often break, permitting the container to disintegrate.
2. Labor
Conventional cardboard containers require substantial labor in their assembly and disassembly, in CRT (or funnel) packing and unpacking, in container stacking and unstacking and in container part sorting for reuse. Assembly complexity frequently results in improper assembly and consequent container failures.
3. Logistics
Conventional cardboard CRT and funnel shipping and/or storage containers must be handled on skids. The skids, if left with the supported containers, consume valuable space in transport vehicles and warehouses. If the skids are removed to conserve space, the loading and unloading time and labor is greatly increased. Conventional containers are bulky to transport for reuse, and are incapable of being stacked to cost-efficient container densities in warehouses and transport vehicles.
4. CRT and Funnel Breakage
The use of conventional cardboard CRT and funnel shipping and/or storage containers results in a high rate of breakage -- typically as much as 1%-2% of all goods shipped. Breakage is due primarily to the collapse, crushing and/or disintegration of the containers. Also, significant breakage is due to the fact that the CRT's and funnels are not securely held within conventional containers.
It is not unusual to see in a truck or warehouse a multi-tiered stack of cardboard CRT or funnel containers, worth thousands of dollars, toppled or otherwise damaged due to container failure, or to see cardboard CRT or funnel containers falling apart in a humid warehouse with damaged contents exposed, or disintegrating containers held together with tape.
Millions of dollars are needlessly spent by the television industry each year on conventional cardboard shipping and storage containers and on repair or replacement of broken CRT's and funnels. CRT and funnel breakage in shipment or storage is so substantial as to require special salvage facilities for salvaging reusable CRT and funnel parts.